Las Vegas 2017 mass shooting survivors alarmed at US Supreme Court’s strike down of ban on rifle bump stocks

Survivors of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas and families who received somber calls hours later said they were dismayed when the US Supreme Court yesterday struck down a ban on the gun attachment used by the gunman who opened fire over 1000 bullets in 11 minutes.

A Trump-era ban on boom stocks, a rapid-fire accessory that allows a rate of fire comparable to that of machine guns, was defeated by a six-to-three majority.

Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the opinion, wrote that the Justice Department erred in declaring that bump stocks transformed semi-automatic rifles into illegal machine guns because they did not “alter the fundamental mechanics of shooting.”

The decision did not directly address the Second Amendment, and Justice Samuel Alito agreed with Thomas but wrote a brief separate opinion to emphasize that Congress can change the law.

“I’m pro-gun, but I don’t believe anyone should have an automatic weapon in a civilized world. This is a bomb waiting to go off,” said Craig Link, whose brother, Victor Link, was hit in the head when the first round of shots rang out.

Victor Link, 55, died soon after.

Link said the two were like twins, though “I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like Victor. I’ve met some people who don’t like me,” he said, laughing, then stood up.

Link was supposed to be at the concert with his brother, a fact that has been running through his mind ever since.

“I can’t help but think over and over, maybe he and I would have been having a beer when it happened, or it could have been me instead of him,” he said.

The gunman opened fire at an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, killing 58 people and wounding more than 850 among the crowd of 22,000.

Shawna Bartlett, 49, was in the front row when bullets started raining down and her boyfriend was hit in the back.

Amid ricocheting bullets and screams, Bartlett helped load his friend into an ambulance and she survived.

“I’m not saying you can’t get a gun,” Bartlett said, but “why would anyone need a stock? Why should it be legal? People don’t use them for hunting or law enforcement,” Bartlett said.

She said she struggled for years to deal with the trauma of the shooting, but things have been feeling much better in recent years.

“I’ve come very far in my healing process,” she said. “Now I can talk about it without crying.”

Danette Meyers, who has become a spokesperson for her good friends, the family of Christiana Duarte, who was killed at the concert, said she worries that even if Congress does act, it will take time.

“It would certainly give someone the opportunity to buy one of these things and just create another mass slaughter,” Myers said.